MOBILE, Alabama -- A Mobile police officer and an officer in training are credited with saving the life of senior citizen by carrying him downstairs and out of his burning northwest Mobile home.

“I was just helping a guy out, you know, just doing my job,” said Officer Ronald Hannah Jr.

Hannah and Michael Motykiewicz, an officer in training, were on their way to a report of suspicious activity near Cody and Howells Ferry roads Tuesday morning when they noticed heavy smoke coming from a house on Gentilly Drive.

They called to alert the fire department. But as the first to arrive on the scene, the 2 acted quickly.

“We pulled up and started knocking on the door, trying to make contact,” said Hannah, 27, who has been a Mobile police officer for about a year.

Getting no response, the two men entered a back door.

“I could hear a person upstairs, so I made my way upstairs, following his voice,” Hannah said. “I wasn’t able to see anything because of the smoke. I just heard a voice, grabbed him and escorted him to safety.”

The two officers carried the man down a flight of stairs and out the door. They sat with him in their patrol car until paramedics arrived.

The senior citizen, whom police would not identify, was alert and conscious, Hannah said. He was taken to a hospital to be checked.

“He was very thankful to be out of the house,” said Motykiewicz, 23, who has been in training for 2 months and hopes to become a full-fledged police officer in January.

The attic and second floor of the house were damaged, but it is still standing, Hannah said.

Motykiewicz said that Tuesday’s events confirmed his career choice. “It gave me a good sense of what being an officer is all about,” he said.

Sgt. Bill Rowland, who supervises the two officers, said their actions were “outstanding.” He has recommended that they receive a life-saving award from the Police Department and said they will also get a commander citation from their precinct, located in Langan Municipal Park.

“They went into a burning building without any fire-fighting equipment, without oxygen masks, in an attempt to save a man or woman they did not know,” Rowland said. “They saved this man’s life. I think both of them are very heroic. That’s kind of an understatement.”